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Feb 07, 2012

Lisa rated it:

This was a wonderful book choice to transition me from 2011 to 2012.

Flavia is so much fun! She’s a hoot. But, with each book, I also find her more & more endearing. And she really makes me appreciate chemistry.

For the first time I’m enjoying Gladys as her own character, not just as an accoutrement of Flavia’s.

I would have preferred Roma to Gypsy, though this is historical fiction and I’m sure the term is more correctly used for this time and place. But then r More...

11 comments like (9 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2011

Judy rated it:

Full Disclosure--I'm in love with Flavia de Luce, the 11 year old who is deeply devoted to the study of chemistry, with a special interest in poisons, and an amateur sleuth. Flavia spends her time humoring her widowed father, who spends most of his time engrossed in stamp collecting, and bedeviling and avoiding her two older sisters--17 year old Ophelia whose passion is music and 13 year old Daphne whose passion is reading. In this third in the Flavia de Luce series, beginning with The Sweetnes More...

0 comments like (21 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Crowinator rated it:

As always, a delight.

One-sentence summary: Flavia de Luce returns in her third mystery, investigating a long-ago missing child, the brutal attack on a gypsy fortune-teller, and a murdered local thug.

I feel like I've already said everything I need to about this series in my short reviews of the other two books. This one isn't any different -- it's delightful, charming, and funny, but it has dark undertones (her sisters' treatment of Flavia, which seems to be worse in thi More...

6 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2011

Tanu rated it:

I absolutely love Flavia, this precocious yet not obnoxious child sleuth has won over my heart, and I absolutely love her. Which is why I totally love this book, because it shows us a little more about Flavia. Behind the lab glasses and witty remarks, lies the heart of a small kid, who misses his mother, and is hurt by her sister’s hatred towards her. Some scenes were very very touching, and although really emotional scenes sometimes fail to move me, Flavia with her simple emotions almost made m More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 27, 2011

Michael rated it:

Review from Badelynge
This third outing of Alan Bradley's irrepressible Flavia De Luce gets the series back up to top form. Flavia saves the life of an old Gypsy fortune-teller who has been beaten and left for dead. Ok our young heroine had almost managed to burn her to a crisp the previous evening but the less said about such details the better. Flavia sets out to track down the assailant, trampling over several crime scenes in the process, bamboozling the local constabulary and driving he More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

If you are contemplating reading A Red Herring Without Mustard you probably already adore Flavia de Luce, a precocious 12-year old amateur sleuth. If you feel wishy-washy about the girl, don't expect her to undergo a major personality transformation in this book, Flavia remains the same smart, naive, sneaky, lying chemist/detective as she was in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. And I wouldn't have her any other way.

As such series go More...

8 comments like (13 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2011

Alissa rated it:

Flavia is at it again, and it was a true delight to follow her through this mystery. The constant battle with her sisters, the desire for her murder solving skills to be recognized and appreciated by Inspector Hewitt, and her grief over the mother she's never known, are some of the continuing threads of Flavia's personal story that allowed me more of an insight into her character. This along with her brilliant mind and ability to solve the mystery kept me reading long after I should have put th More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2012

Allyson rated it:

I hadn't realized how much I missed the antics of Flavia de Luce until talking with a friend about the first two books and some of my suspicions about the characters. Right after our conversation, I purchased the third book and immediately began reading it. I was instantly swept away into Flavia's world of two teasing sisters, a grieving and preoccupied father, chemistry, mystery, murder, and investigating.

I think I enjoy these books so much because there's so much character develop More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2011

Julie rated it:

Perhaps I took too long to read A Red Herring Without Mustard. If I'd zipped through it on sunny Sunday afternoon, the rambling plot would have been a trifle to be indulged instead of endured. About two-thirds of the way in, brakes were put on the pace and the exposition became redundant.

There were heaps of elements that I did love, namely Flavia and her irascible, invincible spirit. Bradley loves this little girl and taking care to round out her precociousness with vulnerability. F More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2011

Johanna rated it:

I adored the previous books in this series, and this one certainly did not disappoint.

Flavia de Luce is a precocious 11-year-old who uses her logical and inquisitive brain, along with her love of chemistry, to solve mysteries.
Flavia lives in impoverished splendor with her distant, stamp loving father, her two self-involved older sisters, a gossipy housekeeper, and a harmless but undoubtedly crazy caretaker.

Flavia and her trusty bicycle, Gladys, engage in adventures wi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Jana rated it:

I know that one isn’t supposed to excessively include quotes in a book review, but I don’t consider my incoherent ramblings about my enjoyment of the books I’ve read to be proper book reviews anyway, so what the hell.

I easily dove back into Flavia’s world with this one. Admittedly, the mystery and plausibility of events might be a bit vague or construed, but I don’t care. I just like to follow Flavia around and listen to her musings, because they are highly enjoyable. I think her cha More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Josie rated it:

The focus of this book was definitely more on character development than murder. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily, but the mystery didn't feel as tight as that of Sweetness, nor was there that sense of urgency at the end when it came to solving the mystery and unmasking the murderer. As much as I like Flavia, I did think the weakness of the plot let the story down.

But there were some wonderful moments, mostly between Flavia and Dogger, or Flavia and Inspector Hewitt. (If Flavia More...

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Dec 03, 2011

Richard rated it:

Review: 53 of seventy-five
Title: [A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD]
Authors: [[ALAN BRADLEY]]
Rating: 4.125* of five

The Book Report: Flavia de Luce of Buckshaw, Bishop's Lacey, is in it up to her neck again in this third outing of Alan Bradley's wildly popular series. This time she burns down a gypsy woman's fortune-telling tent, takes the woman home over her father's presumed objections, and then finds the lady bludgeoned almost to death in her caravan.

Next up is a More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 04, 2011

Bonnie rated it:

I find the Flavia de Luce books mildly amusing, but at times tiresome. I like them enough to keep reading, but I don’t terribly love them.

I think the reason is that the characters are so static. They don’t evolve throughout the series. Flavia is still cheeky and sneaky and chemistry-obsessed. Her sisters still torment her and are boy-obsessed (Ophelia) and book-obsessed (Daffy). Her father is still stand-offish and cold (though there are signs that he might be thawing, albeit very More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Ashley rated it:

Befriending a gypsy after burning down her tent seems to be the beginning of Flavia de Luce’s mystery and troubles. She knows her father will not welcome the gypsy on their land, but feels the obligation to see to her ailing new friend. When she goes to check on the old lady, Flavia finds the first part of the mystery, someone has tried to murder the gypsy.
Inspector Hewitt joins the tale and is not overly pleased with Flavia’s involvement in another of his cases. Flavia fills the inspector More...

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Oct 05, 2011

Marleen rated it:

When Flavia is having her fortune told by a gypsy woman, she is chilled by the fortune teller’s references to her death mother. When she subsequently causes the woman’s tent to burn down, Flavia feels compelled to offer her the opportunity to camp her caravan on a secluded part of Flavia’s father’s land.
The next day Flavia finds the gypsy beat to within an inch of her life, and our eleven year old is determined to find out what exactly happened and why. A further body, found hanging from a More...

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Sep 06, 2011

King rated it:

I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of people rating this book with 4 or more stars, is largely due to the ever endearing Flavia de Luce. I kind of found the story to be insipid at some parts. I thought Bradley had some problems juggling the story lines: the novels mystery to be solved, character development, the financial duress that de Luces are experiencing, Dogger's role, the back story of Harriet de Luce etc.

I also thought it unnecessary for Bradley to keep reintrodu More...

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Sep 02, 2011

Michele rated it:

Actually a 3 and 1/2 stars. He is just such a marvelous writer. It is a pleasure just to see how well his mind works on the page. If I had to choose between this series and #1 Ladies Detective Agency, ooh, let's not go there, it would be too difficult. These books are just enjoyable from page one. I'm becoming a big fan.

I really liked this. You know how you are talking about something horrible you are going through, and the person you are speaking with, almost cuts you off, and More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Loyola University Chicago Libraries rated it:

In this third installment of the Flavia de Luce series, Alan Bradley seems to have perfected the formula for these books. There are three major threads: a murder mystery, the ongoing familial drama at Buckshaw, and Flavia's personal development as an 11 year old on the cusp of young adulthood. Flavia narrates the series with (sometimes false) bravado and an acid tongue, so it's quite remarkable that Bradley can subtly imply that even as she flounces around the English countryside acting like an More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Judy rated it:

I really enjoy the Flavia de Luce series! A Red Herring... again has Flavia being tormented by her sisters, basically ignored by her father, and at crosshairs with the law. When Flavia offers a gypsy a place to park her caravan on the estate (because she feels badly that her father ran this particular gypsy and the gypsy's husband off years ago, she also feels a sense of responsibility for the gypsy. That night she goes back to the gypsy woman and discovers that someone has bashed in her head! F More...

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Jul 28, 2011

Sharon rated it:

Having read Alan Bradleys's previous two Flavia de Luce novels, I can say that the plots of his mysteries are getting more intricate with each new book. Flavia is as clever as always and Alan has created a character who is extemely likeable, a detail that has a lot to do with the success of these books. This time the mystery starts with a Gypsy woman who is almost bludgeoned to death in her caravan. The crimes start piling up from there and seem to be connected to a baby that went missing yea More...

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Jun 19, 2011

Marfita rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jun 02, 2011

Annie rated it:

After I read this, I thought it probably wasn't my favorite of Bradley's three books. But I loved reading it. Also, while a lot of elements are better in the first two, this one is the best with the relationships in the family.

Side note: Somehow the sisters seemed less like they were just nasty foils to Flavia in this book, although their behavior was actually much worse. Once I finished, I was thinking about how much of the hostility between them must have come from the difference b More...

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May 28, 2011

marymurtz rated it:

Alan Bradley's series starring eleven year old Flavia de Luce in 1950s Britain are some of the most delightful books I've had the pleasure to read. Flavia is a cross between Scout Finch, Wednesday Addams and Madam Curie.

In this third book of the series, Flavia is again beset by her two older sisters, Ophelia ("Feely") and Daphne ("Daffy"). To avoid them at a church fair, Flavia goes into a gypsy fortune teller's tent and, after hearing her alarming fortune, stum More...

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May 21, 2011

Neal rated it:

The first Flavia de Luce mystery, 'The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie', was a tour de force of writing and plotting, coupled with meticulous research. Precocious, eleven-year-old Flavia and her family were a delight to get to know. Becoming immersed in 1950 England was key to keeping the story interesting even during long passages of exposition. And, Bradley, a man, convincingly slips into the female voice, which is no small feat for a writer (something I know for a fact). It's a five-st More...

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May 13, 2011

Diane rated it:

Flavia de Luce is an eleven year-old girl living with her widower father and two older sisters in crumbling mansion in the English countryside circa 1950. I think the main reason I didn't enjoy this third book of the series as much as the first two is because of the performance of Jayne Entwistle, the actress reading the book in this audio edition. Her Flavia is a smarmy British twit, not the precocious sardonic chemistry savant we came to know and love in the earlier book. Plus there appear More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 01, 2011

Kathleen added it

A Red Herring without Mustard, by Alan Bradley, B-plus, the third in the Flavia de Luce series. Narrated by Jane Entwistle, produced by Random House Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Flavia is still eleven going on twelve in this book. This is the third murder investigation she’s been involved in this year. In this book, still set in the village in the 1950’s, Flavia’s fortune is told by a gypsy, who later is bludgeoned and left for dead in her caravan. Later, another “layabout” More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Erin rated it:

I must admit, Flavia de Luce is really winning me over! I enjoyed the first book enough to move onto the second in the series. I liked the second book too even though 11 year-old Flavia still seemed too precocious to be a mystery-solver.

In this third installment I just accepted her character and was completely charmed by the book. Delightful! I love her quick observations and witty responses. I've also come to enjoy the other characters like her two older sisters, her father, the More...

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Apr 06, 2011

chwlib rated it:

I think this book, and this series, is delightful. Young Flavia is quite the expert on poisons (How do her sisters dare to tease her?), but understands quite a lot about other types of murder and seems to run into all kinds in her roaming about the countryside of her British parish. The book has so much charm, what with the British village, its sages and sillies, beautiful countryside to enjoy, and lots of lore and dark history. The endless battle with the sisters could become tedious except More...

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Mar 28, 2011

Carolyn rated it:

The best of the series so far. With a gypsy fortune-teller, an underground religious sect, antique forgeries, an unknown family portrait, a vicious attack, and a murder at the Poseidon fountain, the plot bubbles over with intriguing dynamics like a boiling beaker in one of Flavia's chemical experiments. The irrepressible voice of eleven-year-old Flavia lifts this series way above the norm for English cozy mysteries. Despite her acid tongue, I found her more sympathetic in this book as she shows More...

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